PRESERVATION DURHAM’S OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE OLD WEST DURHAM NEIGHBORHOOD PROTECTION OVERLAY ISSUE

Old West Durham, one of the earliest neighborhoods in this city, is rich with reminders of our history and, thus, of significant interest to Preservation Durham. Part of the area included in this Neighborhood Protection Overlay lies in a National Register Historic District, and many houses in the neighborhood are physical reminders of the “mill village” that was so important in Durham’s early industrial boom.
Quoting from Jean Anderson’s history of Durham, “the mill homes were, ‘clean, well-maintained, inexpensive (usually about twenty-five cents per room per week), and convenient. They liked the sociability of the village. They had space in their yards for vegetables and flowers…Christmas was

Preservation Durham is partnering with the Durham City/County Planning Department to update the Durham Architectural and Historic Inventory. The Inventory is a comprehensive listing of all the historically significant architectural resources in the city and county. The listing and description of each site is used as a reference for research and city planning. Since the last update in 1982, Durham has seen a great deal of change, many historic buildings have been renovated or demolished, and of course the standard 50-year-old historic threshold has advanced. This work will update records on previously listed sites, as well as add historic sites built after 1940.

Preservation Durham is excited to utilize Open Durham to make the update process more open to the public. We will

A couple of weeks ago, our innovative and astute executive director spoke at the Durham County Library.

“Durham must find a way to use historic preservation as an economic development tool that includes all community members and mitigates the effects of displacement for local businesses and residents as growth continues throughout the county,” my newspaper, The Herald-Sun, quoted Ben Filippo as saying.

“Now, what we’re watching is a totally new Durham unfolding before our eyes. We’re watching a Durham in which housing rates are going up at a dramatic clip,” he said. “We’re seeing the price of housing stock in some of our neighborhoods, particularly in neighborhoods central to the downtown area, going up by astronomical levels.”

Hello, my name is Jason Norris and I am going into my second year in the Public History Master’s program at North Carolina State University. Thus far I have focused primarily on heritage studies, though I do eventually want to get my Master’s degree in Library Science so as to enter the field of archives and records management. This summer I have been interning in the file room at the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office in Raleigh. My primary responsibility is helping the SHPO with their backlog of the photographic slides which are an integral part of National Register applications and surveys.

This April, I was fortunate to travel to Cleveland, in order to shadow the Cleveland Restoration Society, and get an understanding of how they have grown the organization, and created the innovative Heritage Home Program.

Since starting as Executive Director of Cleveland Restoration Society nearly thirty years ago, Kathleen Crowther has grown the organization from one staff to a 10-plus permanent staff organization, with a rotating host of Trustees and other volunteers doing work throughout the year. The driving factor for much of this growth, was the establishment of the incredibly innovative Heritage Home Program, about sixteen years ago.

The Heritage Home Program is a partnership with the county, cities, Ohio Housing Finance Authority, and others, and offers direct technical assistance to homeowners

I came to historic preservation in a round about way. I started my professional life as an archaeologist. I love a good puzzle, and the challenge of figuring out a long ago community from what remains in the ground was a great one. What I learned from that work was that the material we found revealed the community’s collective choices and values, not just their art, houses, or public spaces, but even the trash spoke to what they valued, and what they did not.

After a while, I got to wondering what the decisions we are making today say about our priorities and values. What do we chose to save and reuse, and what do we teardown and throw away? Where

Hello, fellow historic architecture enthusiasts! I joined the Board of Preservation Durham in the summer of 2015 after several years of active membership. I am a Raleigh native who proudly calls Durham home; I have lived in our Bull City for fifteen years since returning to North Carolina. I love the appreciation Durhamites have for old houses and for downtown’s historic core.

Architecture is my bread and butter. I am an architectural historian and cofounder of MdM Historical Consultants, a cultural resources firm that specializes in researching and contextualizing historic properties for owners, municipal and county governments, and government agencies. As I study the “built environment” (as we architectural historians call it), I see its

About Us

Hello, we are Preservation Durham

Preservation Durham is made up of folks who believe that place is important and that our past helps to shape our future. We want Durham to embrace growth and change but also to protect its sense of place – its unique identity in the Triangle – and to remain open and available to all in our community. Everyone’s story has a place.